Author: Ashlyn Chase
Series? Boston Dragons #3, but can be read as standalones
Pages: ???
Publication Date: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Source: I received a copy of Never Dare a Dragon via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
Jayce Fierro is part of a legendary Boston firefighting family of phoenix shifters. Hiding his true form makes being in a relationship rather difficult. Meeting the beautiful Lieutenant Kristine Scott of the New York City Fire Department and knowing he can’t have her only makes things worse.
Dragon shifter Kristine can’t stop thinking about fun, flirty Jayce and his teasing smile. A relationship could never work-not with the distance between them, and definitely not with her shifter secret. But when Kristine lands herself in a blaze of trouble and secrets are revealed, Jayce will do whatever it takes to help-whether or not the feisty, stubborn New Yorker wants him to.
Never Dare a Dragon is the third book in Ashlyn Chase's Boston Dragon series. However, people can read these books as standalones, and it is not imperative to read the series in order. This was the first book I've read by Ashlyn Chase, and I was underwhelmed. I was expecting a sexy fantasy romance, and instead I was handed a lackluster (and insta-love) romance with too many side characters and sub-plots getting in the way.
Let's first talk about the romance. I was so disappointed by the romance. Both Jayce and Kristine were such flat characters. The whole entire time, I did not care about the characters. There was a lot telling and not showing of Jayce and Kristine's feelings, whether it be about their relationship or not. Because of this, their personalities never shined through and they came off as one-dimensional instead of complex. When you put two pieces of cardboard together, sparks don't ensue. Instead, you get a misshapen box for even more problems to go in. My main issue with this romance was how boring it was. I was so tired of reading any of their interactions. Normally sex scenes are sexy (I know, what?!) but I was just about to doze off reading about the two of them getting it on. Plus, Jayce and Kristine know each other about a week before they start declaring their love for each other. I just couldn't believe it.
And guess what? There is not just one insta-love, there's two! There's this whole sub-plot about Kristine's mother, who I did not care about at all. She's kidnapped in the very beginning of the movie, and I really thought I would get some great action sequences. Instead, the issue was solved in the blink of an eye and then we got some lukewarm romance for the remaining 60 percent of the book. The first man Kristine can have kids on, she falls in love with. They are in a serious relationship and contemplating marriage within a week...what???
The "action" parts were also underwhelming as well. Like I mentioned, there is a kidnapping early on in the novel, but it is solved pretty quickly. There were a couple strings left unresolved, and that took up the remainder of the plot that wasn't taken up by the romance. However, the action never seemed dangerous and I was never scared of the characters. The antagonists never provided any sense of threat, so I wasn't invested in the story at all.
The other huge complaint I had were all the other characters. I understand that they were all from the last two books, but they didn't add anything to the story. I've read series before like this and have read them out of order. Whenever the inevitable cameos happened, I wanted to read the other books, but this didn't happen in Never Dare a Dragon. I felt as if never Dare a Dragon was used to tie up all the loose ends for the past two books, and I simply didn't care.
Unfortunately, Never Dare a Dragon was a huge miss for me. This series seems to be well loved by others, but it didn't hit the mark. I wanted a sexy action filled fantasy romance, but instead I got insta-love two times over and a non-threatening antagonist.
If you decide to pick up Never Dare a Dragon, I hope it works well for you! Even if this didn't work for me, it just might work for you.
With that, I give this
1 out of 5 Stars!
Have you read anything by Ashlyn Chase? What did you think?
Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!
Happy Reading!
Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!
We're so sorry to hear this one didn't work out for you. It definitely is difficult to get into a book when you can't connect with the characters or the plot. And not just one case of insta-love but two? Yikes. But this line >> "When you put two pieces of cardboard together, sparks don't ensue. Instead, you get a misshapen box for even more problems to go in." We love the way you put that lol. Hope you have better luck with your next read :-)
ReplyDelete~Mckenzie & Michele
The insta love really killed all the hope I had! I almost didn't put that in, just because I thought it might be too harsh! But I couldn't resist. :D Thank you both!
Delete